The Contact is a 1963 British educational short film written and directed by Philip Wrestler and starring John Hurt and Pauline Collins.
The film was sponsored by the Spastics Society and was designed to educate young people against prejudice to disabled people.Film User -1966 Volume 20 - Page 318 "THE CONTACT", and learn how some youth club members changed their ideas about Spastics— coming finally to know one ... " It was shot at Thomas Delarue School.
Plot Max is a physically disabled teenager with cerebral palsy. After being knocked to the ground by teenage boys on motorbikes, they take him to a youth club. There the boys and their friends realise that, apart from walking, Max is no different from them.
Cast John Hurt as Max Pauline Collins Georgina Patterson Wendy Richard as Joyce Rodney Goodall Hugh Halliday Graham Harper The Impacts as themselves
Reception The British Film Institute wrote: "The Contact is a remarkably forward-looking attempt to show disabled young people as deserving of inclusion and acceptance in mainstream society. Look carefully and you’ll spot a young Pauline Collins and Wendy Richards doing the Twist."
References
External links
Watch The Contact at BFIPlayer